


We'll See

by castles_and_crowns



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: F/M, Light Angst, Post-Star Wars: A New Dawn, Pre-Star Wars: Rebels, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-21 21:25:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14293773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castles_and_crowns/pseuds/castles_and_crowns
Summary: Hera confronts Kanan about the nature of their growing relationship, and the two of them disagree on the next form it should take.





	We'll See

**Author's Note:**

> Of course, this delightful world belongs to the lovely folks at Lucasfilm.

Hera paced her cabin nervously. She knew what she should do—no, _needed_ to do. Things had gotten too close too many times.

 

It was time she set some boundaries with Kanan.

 

They had been working together for six months, and in that short time period, they’d found themselves holding hands, snuggling close while watching holo-dramas during downtime, and almost having kissed three times—last night being the most recent time. This needed to end.

 

Hera exited her cabin and made her way to the cockpit where she knew Kanan would be. When the door swished open, Hera stepped inside, and Kanan, who was in the co-pilot’s chair, turned around to greet her. He must have seen the solemn look on her face, however, because his own expression grew serious.

 

“What’s up?

 

“I wanted to review the ship’s rules with you,” Hera told him, sitting in the pilot’s chair and turning it to face him.

 

His face scrunched up in bewilderment. “Am I in trouble?”

 

“No,” Hera said, shaking her head. “I just think there’s something we need to go over.”

 

“And what’s that?”

 

Hera broke eye contact and looked over at the console where their last almost-kiss had occurred.

 

_They had been on their backs under the console re-wiring circuits late yesterday evening. They chatted amiably as they worked, and in typical Kanan fashion, he was making Hera laugh. Unfortunately, this caused her to lose her focus for a moment, which led to her shocking herself and getting a painful electrical burn on her right index and thumb fingers._

_Kriff!” Hera exclaimed, before putting her index finger in her mouth._

_"Sorry,” Kanan winced. “I feel like that may have been my fault. I’ll keep quiet until we’re done.”_

_Hera removed her index finger from her mouth and shook her hand, allowing the air to cool the burnt digits. “It’s okay. You’re good company.”_

_Kanan removed his hands from the wiring and grabbed Hera’s hand with the burns. “Am I?” he asked, beginning to examine her fingers._

_“Much better than I initially anticipated,” she teased, offering him a small smile._

_He had finished examining her fingers but was still holding onto her hand and was now returning her small grin with one of his own. When she didn’t break eye contact, Kanan moved his face closer to hers. For a moment, Hera leaned in as well, but right before his nose brushed against her cheek, she pulled both her hand and her face away._

_"It’s getting late,” she said. “All the essential tune-ups are completed. We can resume tomorrow.”_

_And then she quickly extricated herself from under the console and made her way to her bunk._

Kanan followed Hera’s eyes to the console. “Oh,” he said. “ _That_.”

 

“It can’t keep happening, Kanan,” Hera told him, forcing herself to look over at him once more.

 

“Keep happening? Hera, nothing’s actually _happened_ …”

 

“You know what I mean,” she said, her voice just short of chastising.

 

“Well, it’s not like I’m the only one to blame here,” he said defensively, standing up from the seat.

 

Hera rose from her seat as well. “No one’s blaming anyone,” she replied. “It’s just not something that can keep happening.”

 

"Did I misread something?” he asked, now genuinely concerned. “I thought you were giving me pretty clear signs.”

 

Hera sighed. “You didn’t misread anything.”

 

“Then I don’t understand what the problem is?” he asked. Hera could see that he truly had no idea where she was going with this, and that was going to make what she was going to say next so much harder.

 

“Kanan, you and I can’t happen.”

 

“What? Why not?”

 

“Because it will interfere with our goal.”

 

Kanan frowned. “You mean, _your_ goal.”

 

“Okay, _my_ goal,” Hera replied patiently. “But, since day one, your job has always been to help me with my goal. You’ve always known that.”

 

“Wait, I want to go back a second,” Kanan said, walking to the back of the seat and taking hold of it. He wasn’t wearing his usual gloves, and Hera was able to see the white in his knuckles. He was gripping the seat hard.

 

“Okay.”

 

“Do you have actual feelings for me? Or were those moments just moments of weakness?”

 

Hera wanted to reach out and touch him, as if to soften the blow of what she was about to say, but she knew that might only make her answer worse.

 

“Both,” she answered softly. “I have feelings for you— _of course, I do_ —but those moments we had were moments of weakness as well. I wasn’t thinking rationally in those instances.”

 

Kanan scoffed.

 

“We can’t be together because the mission has to always come first. For example, if we ever take on new crewmembers, they need to be able to trust us and know that we’ve got our minds on the mission and not each other. Another example: if I get captured, I need to know that you will make sure our mission is completed before making any attempt to rescue me.  Also, if--”

 

“Thanks for the list, _captain_ , but I’m not sure I can make a promise like that,” he said, his voice filled with sarcasm and defiance.

 

“Well, I need you to.”

 

“Hera, just because you won’t let me act on these feelings, it doesn’t mean they disappear. Regardless, I’m still going to love—“

 

Kanan did not drift off but, rather, stopped speaking abruptly. He froze as well, realizing he had just revealed more than he had intended.

 

Hera broke the now fragile eye contact between them and looked down at her feet.

 

“Kanan…it can’t be like this. I’m sorry.”

           

            “This is ridiculous, Hera,” Kanan muttered, walking to the door of the cockpit. He seemed more resigned now than angry, his accidental confession having taken away his upper hand in their disagreement.

 

“It’s how things need to be,” Hera said, standing her ground.

 

Kanan paused at the door, and for a moment, Hera feared he might turn around and yell at her. Instead, he turned around and said, “No, it’s how _you_ need things to be.”

 

“Well, I’m the _captain_ , so I make the rules here.”

 

Kanan titled his head slightly from side to side, reluctantly conceding to her statement. “You’re right. You are. That’s fine, then. I’ll wait.”

 

Hera took a tentative step toward him. “What do you mean you’ll wait?”

 

“I’ll wait until you change your mind.”

 

He was looking straight at her now and the expression on his face was neither jocular nor angry. It was calm and serious,

 

“Kanan, I won’t change my mind,” Hera said, crossing her arms.

 

Kanan shrugged. “We’ll see.”

 

“We’ll see?” she asked incredulously.

 

“We’ll see,” he repeated.

 

And before Hera could get another word in, Kanan exited the cockpit, leaving Hera there, alone, and more confused than she had been before their conversation.

**Author's Note:**

> I just can't get enough of these two goofballs. I hope you enjoyed reading it.


End file.
